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Home Page and Mercury:

• Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington - “MESSENGER’s First Look at Mercury’s Previously Unseen Side“

Earth:

• Image courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center from The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth - This view of Earth’s horizon as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean was taken by an Expedition 7 crew member onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Anvil tops of thunderclouds are also visible.” [Credit from Wikipedia]

X PRIZE Cup 2007 Coverage:

• Image courtesy of ESA - “Moon right after the end of eclipse totality“
• Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington - “MESSENGER Earth Flyby“
• Image courtesy of Scaled Composites - “SpaceShipOne ignites its engine after being released by the White Knight mothership.” Video Capture Credit: Courtesy of Vulcan Productions / Discovery Channel

Nanotechnology:

• Image courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center via Wikimedia Commons - “Fullerene Nanogears” - “The Numerical Aerospace Simulation Systems Division (NAS) of the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California is conducting research into molecular-sized devices known as Nanotechnology. This photograph depicts two “Fullerene Nano-gears” with multiple teeth. The hope is that one day, products can be constructed made of thousands of tiny machines that could self-repair and adapt to the environment in which they exist. Researchers have simulated attaching benzyne molecules to the outside of a nanotube to form gear teeth. Nanotubes are molecular-sized pipes made of carbon atoms. To “drive” the gears, the supercomputer simulated a laser that served as a motor. The laser creates an electric field around the nanotube. A positively charged atom is placed on one side of the nanotube, and a negatively charged atom on the other side. The electric field drags the nanotube around like a shaft turning. Jie Han, Al Globus, Richard Jaffe and Glenn Deardorff are the authors of a technical paper detailing this technology which appears in The Journal of Nanotechnology.”